Articles for carrying various items have been in existence for many years. In retail establishments, bags are commonly provided to a purchaser of goods to carry the goods out of the retail establishment. In the past, such bags have been in the form of paper bags or sacks, and such paper bags were especially prevalent in grocery stores and supermarkets for bagging food and related sundry items. When paper bags are filled with a heavy load of goods, unfortunately, on occasion they rip or break, causing damage to goods as well as customer inconvenience. Recently, retail establishments have introduced bags made of plastic, in addition to or in place of paper bags. Such plastic bags are very light, yet very strong, and do not break easily, even when wet as do conventional paper bags. Such plastic grocery bags typically have a portion of the bag cut out which forms a pair of handles as a part of the light, yet strong plastic bag. As a consequence of the strength of the plastic bags, many retail establishments such as grocery stores and supermarkets, not concerned with breakage of the bag, are able to load a significant amount of items in the bag carrier. This is especially the case in establishments which sell food. For canned goods and liquid items such as milk, such bags can become very heavy. It is often desirable for the customer to carry at least one, and typically more than one of such plastic bags at the same time in carrying the goods from the customer's automobile or bus to his or her destination. Unfortunately, in situations where the bag is heavily loaded, which is often, the bag handles become taut. The handles become more likened to a string or wire which cuts across the user's hand and fingers, and which can become painful after a fairly short period of time. Therefore, although the user could carry the load without fear of breakage and save a number of trips, there is discomfort to the user's hand making it difficult to carry such bags for an appreciable distance.
Various attempts have been made to incorporate plastic handles into such shopping bags in an effort to distribute the load more evenly in a user's hand. In addition, various padding can be added to the bag handles, or the user can wear gloves. However, this can be costly, inconvenient, and may still cause discomfort in carrying such bags to the hands of the user. The present invention recognizes that providing a quick and convenient manner of distributing the load from the narrow plastic material handle to a wider area in the hand of the user would result in less discomfort and increased ease and effectiveness in carrying such loads. The present invention satisfies the need for providing protection for the hands of the user in a manner which is convenient to use and which accommodates the needs of the user.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bag handle apparatus which protects the hands of a user carrying one or more heavily loaded plastic carrier bags. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a bag handle apparatus which is durable and reliable in operation. Another object of the present invention is to provide a bag handle apparatus which can be quickly and easily incorporated for use with conventional plastic shopping bags. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a bag handle apparatus which is simple and convenient in its use, yet cost-effective in its manufacture.